TOTALLY!

Palm Sunday/Meatloaf Sunday #2

Okay, first with the good. Today was Palm Sunday. By accident, I even wore red.  I don't know if I am getting more sentimental in my advancing age or what, but I am becoming more and more fond of the "special" church days. I just had all sorts of warm fuzzies as we processed from the Fellowship Hall with our palm fronds and crosses to the church, which upon entering, was just amazing with the ring of a trumpet being played by one our of church members while the choir sang. Those of you who have been to our church in the past may remember that the choir was not one our high points. It is much higher now, you should come back and listen. And the trumpet just made it all that more amazing. Loved it!

Now onto the not so good. Meatloaf #2 was a disaster. Jeff and I managed to get our servings down with the help of ketchup and some positive thinking. We just kept hoping that the next bite might be better. Nope. It was mushy and, well, REALLY mushy.  I screwed up by not only doing a different recipe (which is the point) but I also changed the pan that I cooked it in. So I don't know if it just retained TOO much of the grease this time or if the substitution of egg and milk with applesauce was the killer.  The flavor was THAT bad, in that you didn't taste apple, per se, in fact Lydia thought the whole thing tasted like sausage, but the mushy texture was just too much.  We decided that it was nice in that this one was so bad, we weren't even going to attempt to rate it other than to say NEVER AGAIN, and leave it at that.

Didn't see much of Jerry today, as his official last day as our neighbor is tomorrow. He had a housefull of people pitching in to help him clean it out. My heart goes out to him but I am thankful that he had people there to help him today. When Mac and I went over before dinner to retrieve some pickle jars he had set aside for me, it looked like he still had a lot to do, but it may be that it is his plan to leave some behind, his final farewell, though he has said in the past that he harbors no ill will towards the people who have bought the house, all of his ire it directed towards the Social Security office that denied Dee's checks....

And finally, we lost Anna today, one of our ducks. Jeff noticed she looked less than well at about 3 this afternoon and by dinner time he was torn as to whether or not to help her "on her way". By the time dinner was over, however, she was gone. Apparently our dinnertime prayer, that she go quickly, was heard and we are so thankful. But now the mystery remains, what the heck happened? We think that she was the one that attacked by the dog when we were away in Miami, so it may have been something from that. But I will be spending a good amount of time on the internet tomorrow trying to figure it out.

Well, speaking of prayer, if you are reading this, please send a quick one up for me. Tomorrow marks the first day of a week of 1/2 days of school leading up to parent-teacher conferences and then...DUM, DU-DU, DUM DUMMMMMMM!!! Sigh

In closing, I would like to end on an up-note and give thanks for my wonderful husband. Sunday has become my favorite day of the week in that I always know that I will have an hour in church to sit side-by-side with him and hold his hand, uninterrupted, except for the moments when we have to flip a page or give the peace or some such thing.  I love him for the fact that he cared enough to want to"help" Anna along but also for the fact that he had such a hard time bringing himself to end her life.  He is such a wonderful, careing man and I am so lucky to have him as my pew-mate, help-mate, play-mate and life-mate. God has blessed me greatly.

Grandparents Day

Our family has the BEST grandparents and Great grandparents in the world. Today was Gparent day at school and MY grandma and grandpa showed up, along with Mac and Ben's Grandma Edlyn (with brother Gabe and sister Sammy in tow) and Noah and Lydia's Grandma Ronnie and Grandpa Steve. Now of course, we have many more who were with us in spirit. Gma Kathy just got home from spending a week with the little boogers kids and Gpa Dennis has been spending his time recooperating so was ordered to stay home. We felt you and Regina here in spirit, Dennis!  Nana and Poppy were just here in January for over a week and only just arrived home last night, so they were off the hook, although we knew they were here in spirit, too.

I swear each year that it is going to be the last time I subject any family  members to this chaos, but they just keep coming back.  I can't say as that I understand it, but we sure as heck do appreciate it. No pictures this year (I kinda had my hands full) but if you just shut your eyes and picture Ben helping to seat Great Grandpa John and then taking his ticket to get his lunch for him, Mac holding and simultaneously trying to feed, Gabe, so that Gma Edlyn could eat her lunch, Lydia helping her Gramma Ronnie to the table and with her tray and Noah literally popping out of his seat with a great big smile to give GG and Gpa John a big hug...well, you have more than an idea of how great it was.

My heart is all warm and fuzzy.

China Doll

The dress is a gift from Nettie, and actually it is from Japan....you are looking at this year's Easter dress...think I can find shoes to match in time? And yes, the wrinkles will be gone, it has already taken up permanent residence in the bathroom to be steamed....

Instant Easter Eggs!!

What do you think my chances are?

Lots of stuff....and Meatloaf

Okay, I just thought this was a really funny picture.

Busy, busy weekend. Wow.

Friday started off a little rough. It was auction day for Jerry's house. It was scheduled to go on the "block" at 10 a.m.  At 9:30 a.m. I was coming around the corner of his house with a pot full of Hostas that I had obviously just ripped from the ground in the backyard, when I was cut off at the driveway by a car full of, well, not Jerry. I have to admit I panicked a bit, thinking maybe I had my timing off a little bit. You see, he had given me permission to salvage whatever plants I wanted from the yard before it wasn't his anymore, and not knowing how this auction thing worked, I was afraid that maybe I had overshot the time. What if these were the new owners and they wanted everything? So I said a quick prayer, and lied through my teeth. They asked if I was the owner and I said no (not a lie). Then they asked if I knew the owner and I said "yes" (also not a lie) but then I went out on my own and said that I was just moving some plants that his wife, who by the way, just died, and I had planted and he had given me permission to take....blah blah blah. They were very understanding and then explained that they were realtors and were wanting to speak with Jerry before the house went up for auction and did I know where he was or how they could contact him. (whew!!) Well, I took their card and texted Jerry  (who was out moving his trailer at the motor park) and then went back to raping his yard of the purple tulips, hostas and peonies that I know would otherwise go to waste.  An hour later a huge Ford xtra Cab and a shiny black Hummer pulled up in front. By this time was I done in his yard and was busy trying to find room for all my new aquirements in my yard so I was trying hard to ignore them. When one of the women walked up to the door and appeared to be trying to knock on the door, I did pipe up and let them know that he wasn't home. That was a mistake, because within seconds they were all over in my yard pumping me for information. Did I know anything about the owner? Would I give them his number to contact him? Was the house well kept up? Oh, and by the way, they were the new owners (with Hummer-driving realtor in tow). Well, I took the realtor's card and promised to give him a call, then ran into the house and proceeded to cry my eyeballs out. I didn't even bother to shut the door and to tell the truth, probably was sobbing hard enough for them to hear and didn't. Even. Care.  I was a bit surprised at how hard and quickly it hit me. This was it. Jerry is leaving. All of the doorbell ringing. All of the constant visits during the day. All of the impromptu dinner invitations. No more doggy sitting. No more sitting around drinking an O'Doules on the front porch or a barrel of Muscato wine around the dinner table. No more listening to the World, or how it should be, according to Jerry. I am going to miss him.  He still seems to be okay with it all and the new owners have agreed to buy all of his appliances from him and give him another week to continue to move out so I have one more week to soak it all up. I just wish it wasn't going to be such a busy one. I would love to spend it sitting on my porch drinking O'Doule's listening to the World According to Jerry.

Saturday came with some more gorgeous weather and an almost forgotten promise of helping out with Spring Cleaning at the church! So we packed up M and B and the gardening tools and tool box and headed out to St. Bede's (in the weeds) to clean up. Mac and I had a good time weeding and learning names for all those stupid things that take up all my garden space and even made it home with a bag full of Japanese irises that didn't get planted at the church. Ben conscripted himself to the kitchen (to be closer to the muffins and doughnuts) and was put to work "steroiding" the kitchen cupboards. (hee hee!) Jeff got to help power wash the parking lot but we were too late for him to get to climb aboard the cherry picker that was being used to power wash and paint the cross outside and the flag pole.

By noon it was off to the Opening Ceremonies for Little League. Being the coach and all, he kinda had to be there. I was a little ashamed that this was our third year of playing and our first time attending, so of course had no idea that they were supposed to wear their WHOLE uniform. Ben wore his shirt and hat. But we were saved in that the only other team member who showed up was wearing her socks from two teams ago (green) with her red uniform shirt and hat. Yes, we are the Ocens DiamondBacks again. Jeff's boss was so excited that Jeff is coaching this year that he volunteered to sponsor the team again. Oh, and loaded Jeff up with a TON of baseball coaching hints and drills (he has coached his sons team for the past 8 years and now he is off to college, so this was a Godsend for him!).

Like I said, only one other team member showed up so Jeff learned that perhaps telling the parents that he didn't expect them to show up, seeing as that the weather was supposed to be so nice, perhaps wasn't a good thing....Oh well, the four of us made up for our numbers with plenty of enthusiasm!

We got home with enough time to do some more planting and mole hunting (did I mention they have fully circumnavigated our sunroom AND the potting shed?) and ended the night with BBQ'd King Salmon.

All that excitment caused us to oversleep this morning so that breakfast consisted of whatever was left over from the 8:00 service's coffee hour (we were out of coffee, so that was inspiration enough to get a move on). B and M both acolyted their hearts out. Mac even got to be crucifer and help with the elements today, which was a BIG thing for him. But what I was proudest of was the fact that they ended up having to sit next to each other for the whole service and they BEHAVED!!! After years of getting on airplanes and having to tell the flight crew that it just wasn't a good idea for them to be seated next to each other, they may have finally broken through!!! I was so proud of them both and then on top of all of that I got THREE compliments from church members on how much they appreciate the boys' enthusiasm. Me, as thier mom, tend only only to notice the cassocks bunched up under their arms as they wait for the elements, or the strings they were playing with and left hanging from their left ear (don't ask), or the fact that every time they toss thier head to get their hair out of their eyes, their torch comes dangerously near the banner....so it was really a blessing to hear from others that their efforts are truely appreciated. Every Sunday we give them option of going to Sunday School or serving and every Sunday, they choose to serve. I am very proud. This includes Noah, as well, by the way. They are all very enthusiastic, and GOOD acolytes!

Okay, now on to what you have all been waiting for, the result of the first Meatloaf Sunday. (drum roll, please). I used a very basic recipe that called for beef, egg, worchestershire sauce, thyme, rosemary, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, and bacon. Okay, the bacon was a bit beyond basic, but it isn't like it is a stretch for any of my family to eat it. I have to say that the hardest part was following the recipie to the letter. I wanted to throw in more Worchestershire sauce than was asked for (so I did) and I didn't have any rosemary, so I doubled up on the thyme. But that is ALL that I changed.  I had the family rate it on a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being the best they have ever had (better than Nana's even) and 1 being the worst (in my mind, any of my past attempts would rate here).  I was a little disgusted at how it looked as it came out of the oven, congealed beef fat just isn't appetizing, so I think I moved it to a serving platter just a little too hastily and as a result it was a tad, okay, a BIG tad, on the dry side. But the overall scores were encouraging, ranging from a 3.5 (me and Mac) to a 5.0 (Lydia, our resident vegetarian wannabe). I think the most fun was that everyone was enthusiastic about the whole idea. Everyone was excited to try it out and I didn't have everyone asking me 10 times "what's for dinner", because if they even tried, two or three of the others would quickly remind them "DUH! It's Meatloaf Sunday!!!". So though I rated the meatloaf itself a 3.5, I would have to give the whole experience a 10.

Next Sunday, meatloaf with applesauce in it. I think I will keep the ingredients secret until AFTER it is scored.....

Meatloaf, Beach Condos, and Julia Child

One of the dinners we had in Newport has inspired me to a new challenge. Okay, so maybe the martini helped a bit too, but with any luck not too much....Sundays at our house,from here on out, shall now be known as Meatloaf Sundays, at least until I discover my favorite recipe. I shall try a new concoction each week, hopefully from recipies and not just out of my head, until I find one that I myself am proud to serve and actually enjoy eating. To this date, I tend to find my meatloaves to be quite tragic affairs, not to mention less than appetizing in appearances. So far, my mom has the one to beat, according to Noah and the rest of the kids anyway. I have to say I like it too. Jeff tries to be kind and tells me that all of my meatloaf attempts have been eatible, if not yummy, but I know better. Everyone shall be allowed their favorite, but the experiment shall continue until I find MY favorite. So if you hate meatloaf, avoid our house on Sunday nights.

My other new obsession is with the teensy, tiny little travel cabins that we stumbled upon repeatedly on our drive on Cape Cod. These things were amazing. Some of them, you could tell, had not been inhabited for decades. Others were apparently rented out and had people living in them and careing for them year round(think window boxes and Christmas wreaths on doors). Some were no bigger than a cracker box, literally about 10x10 if that. Others were a little bigger, with room for a kitchenette and maybe a 1/2 bath or so. Some were arranged in a semi circle and others seemed to be scattered randomly so that no one could see in anyone elses front door. Some were brick, others were just wood, others had the clapboard siding, still another set was painted bright primary colors with white trim, one blue, one red, one green, one yellow, but all with the same white trim.  Some even had adorable dutch doors! What cracked me up was that most often than not, they were referred to as Condominiums!!! I would tend to want to write it as condoMINIums.  Hee hee!

 Anyway, of course I didn't get to take many pictures as there were none around where we got out to eat or at the very end of the peninsula where we got out to take a picture. The ones pictured above tend to look more like military housing and are huge compared to many of the others we saw, but I think I am going to do some research on these little boogers. I wonder how they are set up inside, especially the smaller ones? Do they have plumbing? I never noticed bath houses or bbqs set up for cleaning and cooking elsewhere. How much fun would it be to own a few and manage them as summer rentals? I would have a blast decorating each one differently. Maybe giving them names and themes. Some were so small that you could easily have fit three or four of them on a flat bed truck to transport them to this side of the country. I know there are some that are similar up in Hoodsport on the Hood Canal, as my sister-in-law stayed in some for our wedding.  If there is no coffee table book on these little gems, there should be.

And thirdly, Julia Child is my hero. Just finished her book My Life in France and I want to be her when I grow up. Only maybe not so tall.....

On the Haaaa-bah.

 Friday -Newport RI. Jeff and I met up in Minneapolis on Thursday and got to fly the final leg of our journey into Providence together on the same flight, adjoining seats and everything! Although the plane was so small that just about all of the seats were "adjoining". This year we even got into town in time to have dinner before we collapsed into a travel worn stupor. Well, Jeff was rather stupor-ized, having been traveling pretty steadily for the past month by now.  Our room was part of a small  set of "guest houses" that straddled  the end of a wharf in downtown Newport. They were VERY cute and nothing beats stepping out of your room to such a view every morning, only to have to take 10 more steps to get a fresh mocha/latte from the coffee stand downstairs. We didn't have a whole lot to do this day as we weren't allowed into the conference room to set up our booth until 6 p.m. so we decided to get some walking/exploring in. We decided on the Newport Cliff Walk, a good way to get some real estate oogleing and some oceanic fixes we thought. Wish I had thought to pack my trusty flip flops as my "comfy" shoes weren't up to the 12 miles worth of walking we ended up doing.

As you can see from the pictures, the Cliff Walk eventually turns into an Cliff Xtreme Hike, so by the end I felt ridiculous with my choice of apparel and accessories, as well as blistered and bloody...the return trip into town, despite being lame and limping, was still a treat because you can actually SEE some of the houses you were looking for while on the walk...ooh well. 

We also ended up finding the liquor store, the drug store and, for next time, the Rockport shoe showroom. Really, though, the houses were magnificent and huge. Kept discovering that while the main houses were impressive, I thought the gate houses were so much more Me.

SATURDAY - Spent all day at the seminar out on Goat Island (nice name, huh?). I got some really good usage out of my iPhone as there was NOTHING else to do! We were set up around a large room with about 30 other companies and every hour there would be a mad rush of sailors into the room to drink coffee, eat muffins, and talk to the companies (us) until 15 minutes later some nincompoop with a bowsun's whistle would have his fun and they would all run out again. Leaving us to stare at each other for another hour. I did hand out some pamphlets and Jeff did talk to quite a few people, so it was by no means a waste of time...just a long day.

At one point I attempted to escape but the weather attacked with a hurricane-like fury which scared me back into the conference room. I was amazed at the wind and the NOISE of the rain. However, not wanting to be a total wuss, I ended up braving the elements, and in doing so was rudely sucked OUT of the building and blown across the parking lot to my car, which was by now parked in a puddle the size of Lake Michigan. No matter, I was safe and bound to get a magazine to read.  Well, despite the horrid torrential downpour, the St. Paddy's day revelers were still out in force. Newport hosts one of the biggest St. P Day parades the saturday before St. P day every year. While I have no doubt that the parade itself is most likely impressive, what it leave behind leaves much to be desired, namely sloppy, nasty (and I do mean this in a foul way) drunk people by 11 a.m. who are unable to safely walk down a sidewalk let alone cross a street or managed an umbrella safely. I was able to dodge two who were so kindly pushed into the path of my car by their drunken companions, then I hastily turned around and headed back to the conference, sans magazine but with enough to think about that I was no longer sad to be stuck there.  We decided it was safer, both weather-wize and drunken pedestrian-wize, to stay as long as possible at the hotel so ate a yummy dinner and hung out with a glass of wine until the drunken, half drowned revelers started showing up looking for lodging. We beat a hasty retreat through the parking lot that now sported white caps and large tree limbs as well as chain link fencing that had fallen over....The rest of the night was thankfully calm. I discovered the joys of a bathtub and hot water again and our room was far enough down the wharf that no "rats" came a'callin.

SUNDAY- Well, unbeknownst to us, the seminar people shortened our time availability, so instead of two days to sit and stare at each other, we only got one. A little frustrating to find out so late, but on the up side, it left us a WHOLE DAY to explore Cape Cod. I must say, that Jeff and I have a little difference of opinion as to what "exploring" entails...he seemed deaf to my oohs and ahhs everytime we drove up to - and passed - any form of antique store, book store, or gift shop. Instead, we got in the car and drove until we got to the very furthest point (in this case Provincetown), got out and snapped a picture or two, and then got back in and drove all the way back! I'm driving next time.

 We did stop for lunch in an absolutely adorable town called Sandwich, at a restaurant aptly named Chew and had a great breakfast with a bunch of Hawg riders (who, funnily enough, arrived in their PT Cruisers....) and dinner was had at another great establishment, whose name escapes me, but I had an absolutely FABulous meatloaf on rye sandwich, which will lead to another posting to follow...

MONDAY - Welll, our plane wasn't scheduled to leave until 4 so we still had quite a bit of time to kill. We decided to walk to find coffee and breakfast and ended up on the otherside of town once more, a nice quiet walk, as all of the shops had apparently closed back up for the remainder of the season. Kind of a bummer as I had hoped to poke around in some of them this day. The weather wasn't very helpful either. While we ate breakfast it started to drizzle and as we started back out it just got heavier and heavier until we decided that spending six hours sitting at the airport really didn't sound all that bad anymore. Next time I am packing my waterproof parka, my flip flops AND my rubber boots. Carry on luggage be damned.

Post flight margaritas!

Snow and basketball

Well, today winter finally hit. And it hurt. Me, anyway. Looking back, I wish I had just sat back and enjoyed it but to be honest, the sight of snow two days after a beautiful spring day just kinda stressed me out. And this was a lot more snow than I would have expected. No, it didn't accumulate, but it did start to stick and it snowed for the better part of the day.  Of course, all I had to do was drive about 1/2 a mile and it ended up being rain. At one point, I was coming back from the grocery store and while it had been snowing all the way, I made a left turn into our neighborhood and BOOM it was rain. Two blocks later, it was back to big flakes. I made a right turn onto our road and the sun is coming out and it is back to rain, but right at our driveway (I kid you not) it turned back into snow! I literally could stand with one foot in the snow and the other getting drenched. So strange! By the time I went to pick the kids up, it was beginning to stick and boy were the kids excited! I didn't see very  many who weren't walking with thier faces to the sky and thier tongues sticking out! Plus, it forced Mr. Grant to bring back out the Bear Hat. How can you not love a principal who wears such things??

As for the basketball, what we thought was going to be the last game actually turned out NOT to be the last game. They have another one that is a make up on Wednesday and then if they win that. . .they are in the PLAYOFFS!!! I don't know who was more excited, Noah or Jeff! But it IS exciting and we are proud of Noah. He was able to get his hands on the ball a number of times last night, and though he was no scrapper like his little friend Weston, who played for the other team and seemed to be everywhere at once, he did a really good job.

The other big news is that Ben's baseball team is really scrounging for a coach. I got an e-mail with pleas out to parents to step up and volunteer as the practice season has already begun (unbeknownst to us). I didn't think much of it as God already knows that I can't do it and I didn't think Jeff would be all that interested, though he had talked about wanting to help out in the past. But then yesterday I got a phone call from a nearly panicked team mother, so I passed the info on to Jeff, and though I urged him to really pray about it, he seemed to jump at the opportunity, if not readily, then a lot faster than I expected and with a lot more enthusiasm. I am still going to pray for him. If he comes home tonight and says he has accepted then you all are going to have start praying for ME because that means I have to be Team Mother...just what I need!  Or, maybe it is.

Home again, Gone again.

Happy to say that Jeff made it home in one piece and in good health. He also managed to arrive on what may have been the most gorgeous day to date of this year. Which was nice! The lawn got mowed even! Funny enough, the ducks are NOT afraid of the lawn mower and in fact had to be shooed away from it constantly. I can see them following it, but I don't understand the reasoning behind wanting to be in front of it all of the time....

Saturday morning Ben and I went to church to help out with the Pillowcase Dress project. The goal was to make 50 dresses out of pillowcases for one of our church members to take to Haiti with her later this month. Ben was dying to do some sewing after his successful stuffed animal. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a WHOLE lot of women with good intentions and absolutely no real direction, or maybe too much direction. Whatever it was, I quickly found myself with nothing to do but constantly being told to "just step in! We are falling behind!". I couldn't find my niche, so to say and felt the irritation rising to the point that when I finally found a dress that was ready for me to work on and was told I couldn't because some other woman had her name on it, well, I silently snapped, gathered up a rather distressed Ben and all of my supplies and headed out to the car. Once there, I decided that Ben and I would just go home and make our own dress to donate to the cause. So we headed to Goodwill for the pillowcase, JoAnnes for the trim and then home we went. I have to say, Ben had a lot more luck with the sewing machine than I did and in the end he had a very cute dress!

And here is the stuffed animal (Blob) that he made earlier....

And while I am pretty darn proud of the little runt, I am even more impressed (if I may be so bold) that he was able to touch my sewing machine and live! This means that maybe I have reached a new level of parenting! Woohoo!!

In all seriousness, I do think that the power of prayer has been having a definate positive affect on my relationship with Lydia.  Thank you Bible Group...I feel that I have a little more presence of mind in the midst of my frustrations with her, so that I am able to keep a more even tone and limit the shaking that tends to attack my finger as it points at her little face some times.  Now if I can just lose the whole pointing thing, I will be SUPER happy. As, I am sure, will she.

Noah has his final game (as of this morning at least) of the basketball season tonight. My hope for him is that he will have an opportunity to possibly show a little bit of aggressiveness with his blocking and such, perhaps even steal a ball? Nothing big, just a little something for him to remember the season by!

Butterflies!!

Lydia's butterfies (a gift from Santa) all hatched this past week and into the weekend. We are pleased to announce that there were no "duds"!  I highly recommend this project, very easy (especially when you are gone for the technical parts) and pretty darn cool! They aren't exactly Monarchs, but they are fun to watch flit around and eat.

Spring Day at the Canal

This is a picture of a dog who knows where he is going. Check out the pursed lips, the intense look in the eyes, the nose in the wind. . .yup, smells like the canal.

Just a little bit of haze, but it was on it's way out.

As was the dog. You can't see it, but there is a ball in his mouth that he climbed under the deck, by himself, to get!

 Sigh! Now if it were just a couple (30) degrees warmer! Not that the dog cared, because between this picture and the next, he decided it was time to go swimming, temperatures be damned. Someone has a spa day scheduled tomorrow, and it ain't me!

Joy, oh joy, the neighbor puppy is old enough to play with now! Yes, that black blob is Wilson, Ruby's following act, another spaniel who doesn't like the water. That blue thing in Floki's mouth is a ball, by the way. I need to get better at taking pictures...